Elevator operator&#39;s hand shield



M. GOLDKIND July 26, 1932.

ELEVATOR OPERATORS HAND SHIELD Filed Aug. 26, 1951 pa m2; to M decai Ga/ b In 105.

Patented July 26, 1932 ivzonnnonreo n rmn, or wasnmeronmrsmxor. or COLUMBIA ELEVATOR ornnnrons HAND mm;

Application filed August 26, 19,31. sena11t 59,5e4.

My invention relates to hand shields, particularly of that kind employed by operators or" elevators.

An object'of the invention is to provide a 5 hand shield for use by elevator operators which will permit said operators to have the use of the fingers to perform certain operations incident to elevator operation, but which will protect the fingers when the operators hand is extended to open or close a door.

Another obj eot of the invention is to provide a hand shield for elevator operators which will not wrinkle or become creased during the operation of opening and closing elevator doors.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hand shield which is especially adapted for use of elevator operators and which may be cheaply manufactured in large quantities.

Other objects will appear throughout the specification.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of the back of a hand shield embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same hand shield as applied to the hand of an operator.

Figure 3 is a side elevation view showing 9 the hand shield disclosed by Figures 1 and 2.

It has long been the practice of elevator operators to employ hand coverings or shields to protect the hands of operators in opening and closing doors of the various floors at which the elevator makes landings as well as the gates which are usually of the lazy-tong type mounted on the elevators themselves. Due, however, to the inconvenience resulting from the use of these gloves they have been largely discarded by elevator operators. One reason for this is that no glove had been devised which would protect the hand and fingers of the operator when opening and closing the lazy-tong gate on the elevator and which would at the same time allow the free use of the ends of the fingers to operate the latches of the various doors provided at the landings. Another reason why such gloves or hand shields have not come into general use is that when the shown in "Figure 3.

hand bent or'arched slightly such asis the case when the operator opens orcloses the gate on the elevator,.the bending of the hand or arching of the fingers, of the hand causes the glovegto wrinkle andg'thus makes the operation of opening and closing the gate less positive than when using the barehand. This invention embodies ahand shield, the end of which does-not extend ordinarily to the doorsat the variouslandings may'fhe operated with the fingers iidesired; How ever, if the han'dbe slightly arched the fingers.

will slide relative to thefend ofthe hand covering to the extent that they will be covered 5 ing 2 to admit the hand of the operatorand hold the hand shield in place onthesamei 3 indicates the upper portion of the hand shield which covers the fingers but not the tips thereof when the hand is held straight. 4 indicates the thumb portion which has a back portion'5. 6 indicates a reinforced portion adjacent the heel of the hand covering." 7 illustrates the hand one elevator operator having the hand shield located in proper position thereon. The numeral 8 indicates-the upper edge of the hand shield which as shown inFigure Qordinarily' does not cover the tips of thefingers-but which covers said finger tips when the hand is slightly arched as In; the operation of improved hand shield, when it is desired say, to openthe car gate and landing door-to permit ingress and egress of passengers, the car'gate is first operated. This is performed by "extending the arm of the operator to grasp the handle of the gate and pull the same toward himl When my improved hand shield is usedunder such circumstances, at the time the a'rm is extended the hand'is slightly archedas indicated in Figure 3 at which time the fingers slide relative to' the-portion 3- until said portion covers thetipends of the fingersi The handle is thus grasped and the gate is pulled towardthe operator, the portion 3 T00 the tips of the fingerss'o thatrthe latches of thus contacting with the handle the fingers being out of contact therewith. As the gate is opened the hand is straightened and the latch of the landing door operated. The door may then be slid to its open position by con tacting other portions of the hand shield with the door after it be pushed away from the operator. This can be done by contacting portion 6 of the hand covering with the door or any other portion of the hand shield. lVhen the reverse operation takes place the landing door is pulled to closed position by extending the arm and arching the hand slightly as shown in Figure 3, the part numbered 3 being used to pull the door to closed position. The gate is then closed by pushing the same away from the operator by using the heel 6 or any other suitable portion of the hand shield. If the landing doors or car gates are located in different positions relative to the operator from those above described, for instance if the elevator gate is located on the other side of the opening from that which the operator stands, the sequence of the operations will be the converse of that stated above, and if the landing door is on the opposite side of the operator the converse of the operations described will be performed. Covering of the fingers by arching the hand is usually performed only when the hand is extended as this is the preferred method of operation. However it will be apparent that the hand may be arched and thus cover the end of the fingers for any operation desired whether the arm be extended, partially extended or entirely unextended.

It will be noted that the portion 3 of my improved hand shield does not wrinkle to any appreciable extent as it slides relative to the fingers as indicated by Figure 3 of the drawing.

I perlier to construct 'my improved hand shield of leather or other suitable material. The back portions 2 and 5'may be of leather or of elastic webbing or a combination of these materials. More than one of the backs 2 may be provided of the materials above described, as this forms no part of my invention, only one of said backs have been shown.

My improved hand shield is constructed and adapted for the use of elevator operators and is so described and claimed herein.

I desire to comprehend within my invention all uses and adaptations within the limits and as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A hand shield, for use by elevator operators comprising a sheet of flexible material having a thumb portion adapted to cover the entire thumb of the operator, a finger portion of curved outline, the highest portion of the curve being adjacent to the longer fingers and the lowest portion being adja- MORDECAI GOLDKIND. 

